BCN Bits

My Current Visitor’s Guide to Barcelona

Barcelona Life Hacks

After having lived here for over 3.5 years, I have learned from my mistakes, learned from the locals, and learned that if it seems too good to be true, it is exactly that. My hope is that these tips will help make your time in Barcelona more affordable, less stressful, and overall a richer experience.

Price Generalizations* –> Generally speaking, here are what I have found to be the cheapest in their respective fields:

Night life hook-up: Aashi Guest List …Saying those 3 words translates into free entrance to over a dozen of the best clubs all over the city.

Caffeinated beverage at cafes: “un café solo” (shot of espresso) or “un cortado” (mini coffee with milk), however a normal café con leche is usually not over 2 euros!

Mode of transportation: *looks at ground* your feet! BCN is a very walkable city!

Cell Phone Carrier: Yoigo… Students interested in having a Spanish mobile only for calls and normal texts will get the best bang for your buck doing a pay-as-you-go plan with “la tarifa del cinco” via Yoigo

Grocery stores: Mercadona’s the cheapest overall, but there is also Al Campo, which is more like a Sam’s or Costco. These two are a better value than say Sorli, Bon Preu, Suma, and sometimes Día. Bon area has good prices for meat products.

Metro tickets: If you’re going to be here for 3 months or more and you use the metro and/or buses multiple times daily, the option with the best value is to bite the bullet and purchase a “T-Jove” ticket (90 days, unlimited trips, 105 euros for under 26).

For manicures: these are not the cheapest places, rather just my personal recommendations. I like The Spa Kitchen and French Kiss salons.

Other Tips…

Don’t tip. Unless you are in awe of the amazing service or just really want to, you don’t need to tip taxi drivers, bartenders, servers, hairstylists, etc. The most common tipping practice is if you do want to tip, leave the change in coins y ya esta.

Bags and bread are not included. Bring reusable bags to groceries because they’re not included and you will have to pay for them, same for bread at restaurants. Nothing is complimentary, also that goes for water and sometimes having to pay to use the restroom.

If you’re looking for gel manicure or reliable waxing, go to French Kiss on Port d’ Angel in the city center – they also have several other locations in BCN

Get a library card. Things the many, many public BCN libraries offer: free Wi-Fi, bathrooms, quiet study rooms, DVDs, wide selection of books in English, and obviously plenty of Spanish and Catalan finds as well. Free intercambios at Lesseps.

Check to see when/ if museums are free before going; Picasso Museum, for example is free on Sundays and if you’re under 25 with identification – always free.

100 Montaditos is a fun, tapas chain that caters to groups and those looking to get a lot for their euro. On Sundays and Wednesdays, almost everything on the menu is 1 euro! Great place to watch games and enjoy free Wi-Fi.

Lessons learned from a city that has it all… **Note: My apologies for the screwy numbers/bullets… Formatting is hard.**